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More refractive lens exchange cases per week lead to lower rate of complications

Issue: December 10, 2018

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Julie M. Schallhorn

CHICAGO — More surgeries per week lead to a lower rate of surgical complications during refractive lens exchange, according to a speaker here.

According to the results of a retrospective case study, surgical volume and age have an associated impact on the serious and nonserious complication rates after refractive lens exchange, Julie M. Schallhorn, MD, said at the American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting.

“Surgical volume was a major predictor of nonserious and serious complications in our population. There is a 2.2% reduction of serious complications with each additional case per week. ... Increasing age is associated with a higher risk of serious complications, with a 2.9% increase per year of life,” she said.

The study included 18,110 refractive lens exchange surgeries in 10,296 patients between July 2014 and June 2016 at a large refractive lens exchange practice. Overall, 1,164 complications were recorded in 1,112 eyes, of which 171 serious complications were recorded in 165 eyes. Additionally, 748 posterior capsular opacification events were noted in 748 eyes, she said.

“Granted, this is not a long enough follow-up to capture all incidents of posterior capsular opacification. There are three factors that are predictive: surgeon caseload, preoperative sphere and age,” she said.

Younger patients and patients with higher amounts of myopia were more likely to have posterior capsular opacification develop. Surgeons with higher volumes of surgeries were less likely to have their patients develop posterior capsular opacification, Schallhorn said. – by Robert Linnehan

Reference:

Schallhorn JM. Surgeon volume is a major predictor of complications in refractive lens exchange. Presented at: American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting; Oct. 27-30, 2018; Chicago.

Disclosure: Schallhorn reports she receives consulting fees from Avellino Labs.